The present invention relates generally to a shaving blade unit for use in or forming part of safety razors and, more specifically, to a twin-bladed shaving unit having means for ejecting debris including shaved hair particles deposited in and clogging the space between the leading and following cutting edges provided by the pair of blades.
Twin-bladed safety razors are believed to possess desirable shaving characteristics. Such razors include two blade elements disposed parallel to each other in spaced relation and each having a cutting edge such that the pair provide leading and following cutting edges so that both cutting edges are successively active with respect to the hair elements or whiskers being cut during a shaving stroke.
While shaving with a twin-bladed safety razor, various types of debris such as shaved hair and whisker particles and shaving lather and gradually deposited in and thus clog the space between the leading and following cutting edges of the twin-bladed shaving unit. These deposits may adversely affect the shaving characteristics of the razor so that it customarily must be removed at some appropriate time or times before, during or after shaving. Until recently, most prior art twin-bladed shaving units did not in general include a means for ejecting the shaving debris and, accordingly, removal of that debris had to be accomplished by relatively difficult and time-consuming techniques, such as washing, for example.
One effort directed to overcoming the above problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,114 to Chao et al for Self-Cleaning Mechanism for Twin Blade Razors issued Aug. 3, 1976, wherein a self-cleaning mechanism is arranged between the blades of a twin blade razor whereby the area between the blades can be made clean and free of debris by movement of the cleaning mechanism with a person's fingers. This cleaning mechanism, however, is operated by manual reciprocatory motion in a direction parallel to the blade edges. Teeth on the forward edge of the mechanism have inclined surfaces for forwardly displacing debris from between the blades; however, such arrangement is less than totally efficient in removing debris due to the limited number of teeth, the incline angle of the teeth, and the limited range of lateral displacement of the cleaning mechanism.
In U.S. Application Ser. No. 849,586 filed Nov. 8, 1977, by F. A. Ferraro for Two-Edge Shaving Blade Unit Having Debris-Removing Means, there is disclosed an improved mechanism for removing debris from between spaced blades. More specifically an elongated spacer member serves to maintain the pair of blades in spaced relation and a separate ejector member with an opening loosely fitting around the spacer is displaceable between a forward or advanced and a rearward or retracted position for clearing debris.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,047,296 to Ishida et al for Two-Edge Shaving Blade Unit Having Anti-Clogging Means issued Sept. 13, 1977, discloses a clean-out mechanism of the same general type disclosed in the aforementioned Ferraro application, Ser. No. 849,586, and additionally includes biasing means for normally retaining the ejector in its retracted position. However, the spacer, the ejector, and the biasing means comprise three separate elements which serve to complicate the assembly of the shaving unit.
More recently, in U.S. application Ser. No. 866,127 filed Dec. 30, 1977, now abandoned, by Chen et al for Improved Clean-Out Mechanism For Twin Blade Shaving Unit, there is disclosed an improved clean-out mechanism having a unitary member which integrally comprises a spacer, an ejector and biasing means connecting the ejector and spacer for biasing the ejector to a normally retracted position relative to the blades and spacer.
The immediately aforementioned clean-out mechanism was particularly suited for use in the general type of twin-blade cartridge disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,890,704 by Ferraro for Razor Blade Cartridge issued June 24, 1975, which cartridge has been widely used for nearly ten years. However, recent trends in shaving cartridges have emphasized a more compact design in which the height (thickness), length (side-to-side) and depth (width, front-to-rear) have been significantly reduced. These new cartridge geometries particularly limit the depth, or width, available for housing a clean-out member, yet aesthetic and other considerations generally dictate that most of the member be housed within the cartridge.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved twin blade razor unit including an improved unitary spacer and clean-out device of the general type disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. application Ser. No. 866,127 of Chen et al and particularly suited for compact razor cartridges.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved unitary spacer and clean-out device for twin blade razor cartridges, which device has reduced initial cost and/or affords increased rate of assembly during manufacture.